Over the past six years I’ve seen lots of infants stretching.  My oldest child is five and my youngest is two-months, so for a long time now there’s pretty much always been an infant stretching in my house.  I’m sort of an expert.  At the very least I can tell you a few things about it.  When an infant stretches he really goes at it.  No holds barred.  He doesn’t care who’s watching or what they think.  Sometimes he even poops while he’s doing it (I’m not suggesting you try that).

When an infant stretches it’s not because he decided earlier that he should stretch at some point later in the day.  An infant stretches because he feels stretchy, and if that’s not bold enough, he stretches at exactly the time that the stretchy feeling comes on.  He feels stretchy, and so he stretches.  He doesn’t care about doing it in any particular way.  He simply does it.  Frankly, I don’t think that he could resist it if he tried, not that he would try.  Why would anyone try?  Why would anyone who feels stretchy not stretch right at the moment that feeling comes on?  When I think of an infant, I think, “That guy really knows how to stretch!”

I wonder what the purpose of stretching is.  Given that infants do only a few things, I have to imagine that the things they do are each very important, and because an infant’s only true objective in life is to grow, I would further imagine that the things they do have something to do with growing.  It seems to me that stretching certainly does.  It seems to me that even as bigger people (like school age children and adults), when we stretch, we help ourselves grow.  Below are three steps, as modeled by infants, that you might consider taking in your efforts to stretch into effective growth…and to model that stretching to others who might be interested in growth as well.

Recognize.  Do you ever feel stretchy?  For older people (older than infants) feeling stretchy can come in the form of curiosity, or a burst of enthusiasm, or the realization that you’re enjoying something you might have otherwise not suspected you’d enjoy.  Feeling stretchy is feeling like there’s something you’d like to reach for.  It’s exciting.  If you’re truly interested in growth you can start by thinking about recognizing moments in which you feel stretchy.

Don’t resist.  There are so many reasons why you might resist a big time stretch consuming you.  If people see you doing it, that might be embarrassing.  Big time stretches tend to look relatively goofy to the naked eye.  Also, a gigantic stretch can throw a person way off balance.  Infants are usually lying down or being held.  Stretching puts them in little to no discernable danger.  But if you stretch like that, you could fall down…and that might hurt.  However, like infants, older people feel stretchy because their minds and bodies are telling them that a good stretch is the way to go.  It’s natural.  It’s organic.  If you’re truly interested in growth you might consider denying any resistance-urges during moments in which you feel stretchy.

Enjoy and celebrate connected growth.  After really good stretches the infants in my life consistently put on faces of deep satisfaction.  In fact, many of them consistently flashed genuine smiles of joy during the post-stretch growth period.  As goofy as stretching can look, it feels that good…if not more so.  When you’re able to recognize feeling stretchy, and then to subsequently get down with some serious stretching, enjoy it!  After you enjoy it, celebrate that you’re actively working toward effective growth as connected to your natural drive for it.

For parents, educators, and organizational leaders, don’t just take these steps to perpetuate your own growth, consistently and overtly take them as modeling for those you serve.  Feeling stretchy?

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